Damodar River is a river flowing across the Indian states of West Bengal and Jharkhand. Rich in mineral resources, the valley is home to large-scale mining and industrial activity. Earlier known as the Sorrow of Bengal because of its ravaging floods in the plains of West Bengal, the Damodar and its tributaries have been somewhat tamed with the construction of several dams.

The Damodar River is one of the most important rivers in West Bengal and Jharkhand. The river has its source close to the Chandwa village in Palamau district of Jharkhand in India. The river is famous all over the world for the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC). The length of the river is 592 km or 362 miles. The river traverses important cities like Asansol, Bokaro, and Durgapur in West Bengal and Jharkhand.

The Damodar River is one of the most important rivers in eastern India . It lies on the Chota Nagpur Plateau in the state of Jharkhand in India. The river runs according to an easterly itinerary for a stretch of around 592 km, traversing Jharkhand and West Bengal to the estuary of the Hooghly River.

In a number of local dialects of Jharkhand, the Damodar River is known as Damuda. The word damu stands for holy and da signifies water. Previously, the Damodar ran through West Bengal on a straight west to east itinerary and met the River Hooghly close to Kalna. Nevertheless, it has shifted its itinerary. In its lower plains, the larger portion of the water is poured into the Mundeswari River, which fuses with other streams and ultimately the largest part of the Damodar waters pours into the Rupnarayan River. The rest of the volume of water runs through what is named as Damodar into the Hooghly River, towards the south of Kolkata.